Don't Turn Around
by CastieltheCompanion
Summary: Emily Evermonde- or Ever- is not your average young adult- she's ditzy, clumsy, and says and does things she doesn't recall saying or doing. She's been meeting up with the new guy in town, the Doctor; and, stranded, he tries to solve the mystery circling klutzy Ever. But now they're working against something stalking the woods, and Ever finds her past tangled with the Doctor's.
1. Don't Turn Around

Emily Evermonde huddled into herself, cursing the frigid air for the umpteenth time as she waited. She bitterly watched her icy breath curl out from her lips, and shivered again.

_Where is he?_ she wondered again. The words kept repeating themselves over and over in her head like a broken record, each time more hopeless than the last.

She felt herself begin to drift as her eyes started to flutter shut. _NO_! she mentally screamed._ I can't fall asleep… I'll never wake up.. he's coming for me, he promised..._ But even as she thought those words, she knew they weren't true. At least, not anymore.

_No one could be coming now; did they even notice? _She had risked herself to save them, and now where was she left? Freezing to death in some foreign galaxy that she'd never heard of on some planet she never knew existed in a time zone she hadn't yet reached? As the time droned on, she grew more cynical towards her fate. _Great,_ she thought. _They don't even know I saved their butts. Just great._

She glanced up one last time and squinted into the enveloping whiteness in a desperate attempt to find hope. Disappointed, she started to rest her chattering head back into the rest of her body in a fetal position, when she noticed a shadow. Just out of the corner of her eye… was it him? Delirious and dehydrated, she dismissed the movement and collapsed into herself, just as the figure approached. She smiled weakly, and croaked, "Doctor? Izzat you?" When he didn't answer, she pulled her head up with great effort only to greet her visitor with wide eyes. New terror rushed over her, and adrenaline kicked in. "NOT YOU! NO! DOCTOR-!" Her scream was shortly cut off, and she vanished into the white sheets, her voice still echoing the plain.

...

"EMILY ELIZABETH EVERMONDE, GET YOUR LAZY DUFF UP THIS INSTANT!"

"AH!" Emily stumbled out of bed, crashing into her bedroom floor with a rather dramatic bang. "Oww!" she whimpered, pulling herself up. She was used to falling over everything; she had always been ditzy, and she was infamous for her clumsiness. Her sparkling grey eyes, slightly off, focused on her mother glaring at her from the doorway. "Emily, I told you to get up fifteen minutes ago. You have work today!"

"Mum, I told you to call me Ever..." she mumbled, sloppily dressing herself.

"You have a lovely name, Emily, I don't know why you insist so." her mother ranted, leaving the room.

"Ever." Ever corrected again, and started to pull out her messy brownish hair. She scrutinized her day's outfit, and after tousling her hair for the last time, rushed down the stairs grabbing her bag on her way out.

"Emily, do you want tea with your biscuits this morning?" her mum called from the kitchen. Distracted, Ever glanced at the grandfather clock in the hallway.

"7:30!" she yelped, tripping on the way to the door.

"No time for biscuits and tea! Why didn't you wake me up earlier!?" Her mum opened her mouth and gaped, then closed it again. "Take a biscuit on the way out, dear, at least. I've made too many for just me."

Groaning, Ever snatched a biscuit and kissed her mum's cheek. "Off to work, I'll call later. Bye!"

"Oh, good luck Emily! Make lots of happy costumers, and remember-"

"Serve with a smile, yeah, I know, Mum." Ever answered in perfect unison. "And call me Ever." With that, she climbed on her bike and started off. The path to her workplace, the post office, was largely in the woods outside their house, and even though Ever biked there every day for the past two years, she still managed to hit a tree or two at least three times daily.

Today, however, she seemed especially distracted, her mind wandering about last night's new dream. She casually passed the first checkpoint of three that she had determined, and without crashing.

_Maybe today's the day_, she thought, _where I won't crash and the guys at work can't make fun._ As soon as that thought crossed her mind, she noticed a peculiar blue box in the woods. She recognized it to be a 1950's police phone box, and, puzzled, stared at it.

BLAM! She found herself crashing again, and this time it was one of her more serious crashes, for her front wheel had rolled off and she landed under it. "Oof!" she groaned, and examined herself for injuries.

Her mind was clouded and jumbled when a voice interrupted, "Need a hand?" She pushed the hair out of her face and stared at the new thick hand someone had just offered her.

Hesitantly, she placed her hand in his and pulled herself up. She looked up to greet her savior, and locked eyes.

She sucked in a breath, and her eyes widened as she stared deeper into his kind chocolate eyes.

He looked to be in his early 30's, with a pin-striped brown suit and purple tie, not too-long sideburns and great wispy wind-blown hair. His otherwise formal suit was completed with a scruffy pair of white converse.

It must have been over the twentieth time she was found in this particular condition by him. He was never particularly mean about it though. "Pretty." she mumbled. The Doctor laughed. "Well yes, I do happen to think I'm rather pretty. Handsome works too, of course."

"No, I mean your bowtie."

The Doctor looked downward at his own neck. "It seems that I am not wearing a bowtie. Don't think I ever have."

She knew he would at one point, even if he didn't now, even if she had never seen him wear one before, and even if he had never mentioned having worn one ever. He would think bowties were so cool.

"Er, yes, hello" she stuttered, nervously adjusting her hair.

"I said, are you ok?" He seemed truly concerned, and she smiled assuringly.

"I'm just dandy, thanks to you, I get into these kinds of things all... all..." she struggled to find her voice, but an overwhelming sense of nausea filled her, and the ground flew towards her face as she reeled forward.

"Whoa!" she heard him cry out, and felt his strong thin arms support her, but she could only concentrate on the searing sensation that had just come over her. Then it was gone, just as suddenly as it had come on, and she helped herself up again.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?!" he asked again, concerned.

"Yes, I think that was all" she giggled. "Doctor," she stated, "Why are the wastebaskets upside down?"

"What?"

"The wastebaskets. Metal wastebaskets. They're moving. They scare me, even though I don't know why."

The Doctor stared at her. "I'm not quite sure what that means, but I do like that you constantly leave me guessing."

Ever, seemingly oblivious to what they just said, clumsily stood up and brushed the dirt off her white blouse. "Walk with me?"

And of course he did. It seemed to have become part of their morning routine. She'd smack into that one tree, he'd find her there, and they'd go for a walk and have a little chat.

"So, Emily," he started as he walked by her side, "you seem to be a bit more agitated than usual, feeling under the weather?"

"Huh?" asked a blank Ever. "Oh! I dunno, today's been strange. I had a weird dream, and then I think I spazzed out while getting my stuff for work. It happens to me sometimes, and today, I feel scared. I'm so scared, even though I don't know why. Oh, call me Ever!" she added hurriedly.

The Doctor was about to speak when he was quickly interrupted.

"It's almost ready, it's like, the wood isn't real but it's there now, for when you have to go. Jack misses you but he's going to be confused. Wait, he is and he was and will be? How's he all three at the same time? He'll get over it though. I have to go work Doctor, take care! Hello Doctor! It's nice meeting you here, I saw you here before, like three days ago I think. I hit that tree over there and you were very nice, but very strange. Oh well, I can't talk right now, I have to go to work, I'm gonna be late! Good bye, talk to you later!" She was about to leave when she suddenly stopped and stared at the very confounded Doctor.

He opened his mouth to talk but he was again interrupted.

"Oh hello Doctor! No time to talk I have to go to work! You're so weird!"

The Doctor gaped. "Now I'm the weird one? I don't think you were here for the conversation we just had."

Ever shrugged, and started off towards work. "See you tomorrow, Doctor! Hopefully not in the same way!" She left him him staring after her in the dust and smiled naively at the path before her as she took off to work.


	2. Forest of the Lost

As soon as her shift was over, Ever headed straight down to her friend Harley's house. Harley was always a bit strange, even around Ever, who earned herself the nickname "Derpy" from her clumsiness.

They both worked at the post office together, and Harley was planning the annual office party with Rani and Charlette. They were thoughtfully arranging party favors when she arrived, so she joined in. The other girls had been talking about who to invite, and they decided on everybody except that awful Candy girl.

Dreamily, Ever interrupted, "Hey, do you guys know anything about the Doctor?"

"Doctor who?" asked Harley. Ever chuckled lightly at her question, as if it had been asked many times over.

"No, not that doctor, that one skinny guy with the suit and messy hair. You know, the one that's just 'Doctor'."

"Oh that Doctor! He's so dreamy!" giggled Harley, bouncing up and down in delight.

"More like crazy," said a distracted Rani, "he's always out in those woods, hanging out with who knows what. All I know is that he moved into town back when I can't even remember. Susan says he's decent with a snow plow, but other than that who knows? Even Ami thinks he's weird."

"Weird ithn't tho bad," interjected Harley, licking a pile of stamps "A lot of people think me and Derpy are weird, and I'm not even thsure why!"

"The metal wastebaskets scare him," affirmed Ever enthusiastically, sorting the pile of streamers.

She didn't even realize what she had just said, until she noticed the other girls looking at her like she had grown an extra head. She had become accustomed to this; she had a habit of saying and doing strange things she couldn't quite recall saying or doing. She was surprised that this time even Harley was just as confused. Given Harley's reputation and her own brand of weirdness, she must have said something remarkably bizarre. Never the less it seemed to make some sense to her anyways.

"Oh, wastebaskets, what a great idea, we can promote environmentalism; that can be the theme for the party!"

Charlette rolled her eyes. "Yeah, nothing weird about you two."

Rani interjected back to Ever's question. "Why are you asking us about the Doctor? I thought he was one of your friends. If anyone knows anything about him, it should be you. Honestly, I thought you were two were already a couple or something. I mean, it's not like everybody doesn't already know you two hang out in the woods."

Ever hadn't realized anybody had taken notice, making her blush. "He's not my boyfriend, I just see him in the forest from time to time. And that's not fair, he looked better when he wore a leather jacket, you know? But that was before he moved here."

She realized she was making no sense.

"I mean, I see him in the woods sometimes but it's not planned, he's just there at around the same time, and he's very nice when you get to know him. Strange, but nice. We talked today, but I can't remember what about. That happens a lot when I'm around him; it's very strange. It was especially bad this morning for some reason. I'm sure it was a nice conversation though, because I really want to talk to him tomorrow."

"I think you like him," teased Harley.

Ever felt her face grow even more flushed. "No… that's not what I meant." The other girls giggled.

Flustered, Ever tried to defend herself but was interrupted by Harley.

"You should invite him to the party! He can be your date! Though he might be a little old for you. Or maybe that's how you like your men. Kinky!"

Everyone laughed except Ever, who had turned a lovely shade of pink in embarrassment.

"Come on, Harley, that's not funny," Ever mumbled, "he probably doesn't even know me that well. He wouldn't show." This just made the girls laugh harder. "You admit it! You _want_ him to be your date!"

Giving up entirely, Ever sighed. She didn't even know him, how could she have feelings for him?

Harley shushed down the giggles. "Well then, I'll invite him to the party myself. He really is dreamy!"

This didn't settle right with Ever either. An unexpected pang of jealousy stung her heart. "I didn't say you could do that…"

"Aww, you really have a crush on him! Parties are great to get to know your future boyfriend!"

"Harley…"

Harley grinned. "Great! I'll take that a as a yes! You can give him the invitation tomorrow!" Rani and Charlette's hysterics had died down, and they nodded in agreement, smiling. Ever sighed again, and silently almost wished she wouldn't run into him again.

The next day, Ever ran into her Doctor, despite her best means not to. Now, she wanted to talk to him, he was quite a lovely partner to chat with, but she was reluctant to give him the invite that Harley had "specially" made for him.

They started on their walk, her dragging her bike along as usual. He joked about her bike and the correlation between her brain cells and a tree, but she uncharacteristically toned him out for the most part.

He looked at her funny, which didn't bother her much because she was so used to it, and stopped. Nervously she turned to face him.

He obstinately crossed his arms, and pouted. "What's on your mind, Ever? Really, you can tell me."

When she glanced back, blushing, his face softened and his tone turned more concerned. "It's alright, Ever, you can tell me." Instantly she heard the soothing voice from her memories, "It's alright", cooing in her head. She didn't respond; instead, she fiddled with her fingers and the clasp of her bag.

"Emily." he breathed, at her side in an instant. Ever looked away nervously; then turned to face him.

"Er, I uh..." she began awkwardly. The Doctor looked her intensely in the eyes. "Go on..?" "Er…" she swallowed. "I was uh, wondering if you could…" she paused, nervously bit her lip, and crammed a letter she had been clutching into his now close chest.

She had managed to keep it relatively straight and unbent, not that the Doctor cared much for her neatness. He smiled warmly, then opened the envelope gently. Pulling out the invitation, he put it back in almost as quickly.

She gazed wondrously at him, unknowingly cocking her head. Had he really read the whole thing that fast?

He met her gaze, and said warmly, "Sure, I'll go. I'll pick you up at 7. Take care." and with that, he winked, turning on his heel and walking back into the woods.

She started to protest, but she then noticed she had already arrived at her destination. Gulping, she walked to the post office, still stuck on the events that just took place.

Ever has stayed particularly late on her shift, still at the office until it was almost dark, the sepia sky growing a deeper blue with each too long minute. She bit the soft pink eraser of the yellow pencil she had been using, chewing ever so slightly, just as she did every time she grew impatient.

The clock in her workplace finally ticked on the seven, which was closing time. Jumping up, she dashed her entry card into the receiver and rushed out the door, grabbing her bag and bike. Mounting her bike hurriedly, she saw movement in the corner of her eye and nearly had a heart attack.

She glanced around, then assured herself it was a shadow. But something in her mind warned her of shadows, telling her to count them, and somehow her assuring thought wasn't as assuring anymore. She decided to go quickly before she managed to scare herself back into her workplace, and quickly rode off into the ever darkening woods.

Trying to focus on the path, something she'd never been good at, Ever was constantly reminded of the creatures that could potentially come to her harm.

A big bad wolf, perhaps, or maybe a fat politician with a zippered forehead. She didn't know why a politician would scare her, but her thoughts immediately flashed back to more monsters.

An upside down wastebasket, with one long eyestalk that glowed an eerie blue light, with a whisk and a plunger attached at the waist. It could fly, she couldn't understand how, and she found herself scared more than she could have imagined.

An image of metal men passed in her mind, followed by an eerie statue shaped like an angel. She wondered how an angel statue, a symbol of good and heaven, could scare her as much as this image in her brain did.

Her paranoia was interrupted by the snapping of a twig, and she braked immediately. Unfortunately she failed to ease into the braking, so she flew off her bike and into the shrubbery just off the path.

Grumbling, and covered in scratches, Ever pulled herself up. She got a good look around the woods. By this time it had grown almost completely black, and she could faintly distinguish trees in the distance.

Shaking her head, she wandered back to her fallen bike, convincing herself she had snapped the twig and caused herself to fall.

The heart-stopping sound of another snapped twig made Ever whip her head around.

Frightened, she turned around. "H-hello?" she stuttered, her voice barely above a whisper. "Hello, anyone there?" she called out louder this time.

There was no response, and she scolded herself for thinking something was out there with her. Then it happened again, that peculiar feeling that something was in the corner of her eye.

She snapped her head around, twisting herself in her bike and falling over, again. "OOF!" she cried out, landing hard on her back.

She hesitantly opened her eyes, and found herself screaming. Looming over her now was an eel-shaped tendril sprouting from its very tall owner, who appeared to be an abnormally long man in a suit, looming over her. Only- recalling her experience, she was still unsure- she noticed that he had no face, only a white slate that glared back at her. Glancing around above her, she realized that every tendril was coming from his shape, eerie and black, and seemingly uncountable, and though she opened her mouth to scream again, she found she could not.

The sound choked in the back of her throat as the blank faced man leered over her threateningly, as if to inspect his prey, causing her to press the side of her face into the pavement and shut her eyes in fear.

She felt something grab her hand, and she immediately jerked away, but it held tight. She looked at her captor, and the Doctor met her eyes, and yelled one word. "RUN!" She jumped onto her feet, avoiding but nearly hitting one of the slithering tendrils, and they ran, leaving her bike and postal bag to the creature.

As soon as they had reached a clearing, the Doctor and Ever knelt over, gasping. The Doctor stood up first. He covered a long hand over his eyes, as if it improved his vision, and stared deep into the woods.

Ever, exhausted from the run, tried to walk next to him, but she instead found herself again reeling into the ground, the musty leaves meeting her face.

The Doctor was already by her side, helping her up, still glancing behind him occasionally.

He looked at her worriedly. "Are you hurt?" he asked, releasing her and meeting her terrified eyes.

She tried to speak. "Buh.. whu… wha-?" She cleared her throat. "_What in the name of sanity was that?"_ she gasped, finally finding her voice.

"I suppose you're not hurt then, that's good. Although…." He trailed off thoughtfully and reached over to brush down her shoulders and hair, covered in leaves. She swiped his hand away and glared at him impatiently. Crossing her arms, she raised an eyebrow in expectance.

He sighed. "That was, this might be hard to hear, a creature… from another planet." he started, not meeting her glare in response. "Ya think," she mumbled in annoyance.

He sighed and continued. "I don't know what it is, or who it is for that matter, but I have a theory. Unfortunately I have seen what he can do, and I couldn't stop him before…" he droned, shaking his head in disgust.

She softened her gaze, and shook her head lightly, trying to clear it. "How… how did you know I needed you?" she managed, sputtering.

He half-smiled into the dark. "I was meandering around town, formulating a plan, when I remembered you were taking the late shift tonight. Knowing you, and the road you take home through the woods, you were bound to end up running into him. So I ran over, fast as I could."

She blushed, more flattered than embarrassed.

More seriously he added: "I couldn't let them get you, Ever. You're important. Remember that."

Groggily, she cleared her throat for the last time. "Well then," she started slowly, smiling, "what do you say we stop those things?"

He grinned, and helped her up. "Ah, brilliant old you! I _knew_ you were a good choice!" he gushed, shaking his head and grinning stupidly in the cute way he did.

She didn't know what he meant by that, but she didn't care, and returned his smile. "Allons-y!" he yelled, before grabbing her hand again, and they ran off into town.


	3. A Plan?

Back in his TARDIS, the Doctor began to put the details together.

"Right, let's gather what we know about him. So far."

Ever nodded, although she barely knew anything about him at all.

Her head began to reel with effort as she started to recall the slimy tendrils and blank face. "Eel-like tentacle things-" "Tendrils," the Doctor corrected. Ever ignored him. "…coming from his back, which is probably what he uses to catch prey, hangs around trees, which probably means he's very good at hide and seek, white skin, so only a night thing I assume, and… no face, so extra creepiness. But he does do that thing with the fuzzy vision trees… maybe that's the weird 'corner of your eye' thing? I hate that!" she tried, wanting to be helpful. She closed her eyes in thought, trying to remember more details.

When she opened them again, she was surprised to be met by the Doctor's open jaw.

He swallowed, "V-very observant," he muttered, obviously impressed. "I almost calculated all that. Almost. Here's what I know:" He began to type a list of information, calling the creature 'alien X' and projecting the list using the TARDIS, making a virtual 3-D list.

Ever, unscathed by the technology, squinted at the name. "Yunno, if you're gonna keep referring to it as 'him,' we should give it a name. How about…. what is he, he's tall, he's black and white, he's… slender, so why not Slender Man?" The Doctor raised a disapproving eyebrow. She pouted. "What? It's better than, 'alien X!'" she mocked.

"Oi!"

Sighing, the Doctor closed the list. "I theorized that alien X is a different strain of the Carnegie Monster of the third eastern moon of Kasterbourus, in the galaxy Sheprenia. The Carnegie Monster, however, is a generally harmless, faceless creature that stalks those that pass its territory, but it feeds by absorbing the second Sun of Kasterbourus's energy. The third moon, known as Hesterbrus, is a cavernous isotonic water wasteland, cold and desolate, but bathed in exotonic energy and covered in thick interdimensional forests. The creature now inhabiting Earth must have somehow created a tear in the fabric of space, leading a portal of sorts here-"

"How could it create the portal?" interrupted Ever thoughtfully.

The Doctor blinked, surprised she had been following along with his babbled logic.

"Er, probably because a sun spot caused a spike in exotonic energy, raising the overall energy of the moon, which expelled it into the fabric of space and tore a hole." he explained, as Ever listened carefully. "But it wasn't meant to come like this. The Carnegie Monster is a pleasant thing, really, even is capable of emotions such as love. Something must have gone wrong when it was sucked in. I hope it's reversible…" He trailed off again sadly.

She nodded in acknowledgement. "Right. So, in order to beat this guy, we have to… reverse the transdimensional side effects and reunite him with his home planet?" she said questioningly, looking to the Doctor for approval.

The Doctor smiled. "Yes, Ever, we're gonna send him back." He was relieved she hadn't turned to murder, being a human. He then criticized himself for thinking she was that kind of person, and immediately felt a pang of guilt.

Ever smiled back. "How do you propose we do so?" she wondered, mostly to herself. Her wobbly eyes were concentrated on the list, as best as she could, and even though she was a bit derpy, she held a genius of her own.

The Doctor scrutinized the list, his intelligent brown eyes sparkling with genius and thought, and smiled. "I think I have a plan."


End file.
